Just You and Me
by caputdraconis14
Summary: A year ago at King's Cross, they said good bye. Now, here they are, seeing each other and speaking to each other for the first time since. Vic isn't ready to, while Teddy struggles with the findings of his disappearing act and a past that he can't avoid.
1. Disappearing Act

_**A/N: Hey everyone! To my old readers, long time no see, to my new readers, thanks for taking a look at this. Anyone who read bits of my fic Green Fire from a year + ago, this is a lot similar to this while this is also much different... if that makes any sense. Hope you enjoy it. It is M for a reason. See ya soon, Cappy**_

_**Disclaimer: characters/places belong to JKR, of course.**_

Chapter 1: Disappearing Act

The sound of waves drifted in through the open window as the eighteen-year-old girl, sprawled on her bed, had a dream about flying. She liked her sleep—needed it desperately, she was finding, and it was better to while away the hours drifting until she had to do something. And she could never think of something that she had to do. Not for a week or so.

He smiled at her. In her dream, he smiled at her from down in the stands, watching her as she zipped around above his head. She liked that dream. She liked his smile. But the image of him was blurred at the edges, something missing as it fuzzed in her brain. She couldn't quite figure it out… But maybe he just forgot the way he looked, or maybe it was because she never could know how he looked at one moment into the next.

A crash jerked her awake and she groaned. She rolled herself out of bed to investigate, as usual. No parents were home, so it was just her, on her own, left to monitor the little freaks she was in charge of. Louis and Dominique might have been fourteen and twelve but they still seemed to know how to mess with things—namely her.

She vaguely wondered if it counted as babysitting if she slept the whole time.

"What did you break?" she demanded, combing her fingers through her hair as she stomped out of her bedroom and down the stairs into the main part of Shell Cottage. Dominique stood in the living room, looking forlornly down at a picture with shattered glass. The image of Vic flying in Gryffindor robes looked up grumpily from behind the fragments.

"What did you even do?" she wondered, shaking her head. She yawned, tapping the glass to fix it. "I'm going back to bed now."

"You can't go back to bed," Dominique protested as Louis appeared from the kitchen, eating a sandwich.

"Give me a good reason," Victoire said, yawning again and stretching her arms above her head.

"Because, we're all going to Nana and Gramps' tonight," Louis said through a mouthful of sandwich. "For dinner? Don't you remember? And we're staying there?"

"Oh right," Vic said. "Obligatory family time. I guess I better rest up before that, if I'm ever going to survive."

"You didn't sleep this much when you were at Hogwarts," Dominique accused.

"I know, and now I'm making up for it," Vic informed her.

"Mum and Dad are starting to get worried about you," Dominique said, putting her hands sternly on her hips.

"Why? Because I like my sleep?" Vic wondered. "They should probably calm down."

"They think you're depressed," Louis contributed.

"Well, they're wrong, now aren't they?" Vic said, rolling her eyes. "Look… when you get to be eighteen you'll prize sleep just as much as I do. Wake me up about an hour before we have to leave—I have to get all of my stuff together before we head to The Burrow."

"You should probably shower too," Dominique suggested.

"I've got it under control," Vic said. "It doesn't take me an hour to get ready."

"We're leaving at two," Louis informed her.

Vic looked at the clock on the wall. Eleven forty-three. She had an hour and seventeen minutes.

"Good night," she said, heading back up to her room.

She didn't think she was going to get back to sleep anyway. She flopped on her bed for a few minutes before resolving to pack for a night at The Burrow with every other Weasley relative under the sun camping out in a tent in the yard, or squeezed into the bedrooms of the house. They were a close family, thankfully. It made spontaneous gatherings like this somewhat tolerable.

She stuffed things into the bag she had put and Extension Charm on ages ago, shoving all she would need for a night and the next morning into it. She hummed a little under her breath, a familiar tune she didn't like to place anywhere in her brain. It always came to the forefront of her brain, always seemed to be on her mind. But she liked to ignore it, pretend it wasn't there because it brought with it a flood of other feelings that were better left untouched.

Pushing her bedroom window farther open, she leaned on her elbows on the windowsill, breathing the salty air from the ocean. She liked that. Growing up here had guaranteed a constant craving for the ocean waves. She would need a place somewhere by the waves, in the near future. It was probably time she moved out of her parents' house, after all. But a place on the ocean was probably not cheap.

The wind picked up and whipped her bone straight blonde hair away from her face. She hadn't managed to inherit the Weasley redhead problem like her two younger siblings. The ever-diluted Veela blood in her had taken precedence turning it white blonde, nearly silver. Her hair was one of her favorite things about herself, maybe her only favorite thing. It was long, down to the middle of her back and it never tangled. She praised her Veela ancestors for that.

There was the sound of more feet downstairs. One of her parents was home now. If she listened carefully over the waves she could hear the low timbre of her father's voice, vibrating below. He barked a laugh at something. Vic couldn't help but smile to herself. Her father was a cheering presence, no matter what sort of mood she found herself in. He always had been. He was always there for her. No matter what.

She kept packing, tossing little things into her bag. She figured if she had all the room in the world, she could over-pack all she wanted to. Some days it was downright fantastic to be magical.

-CD-

In a London flat, a cat swished its tail angrily on the windowsill. It turned, with glowing yellow-green eyes, to look at its master, jealous. The man it fixated on was feeding an owl, a feathery fat thing with a big beak and moon eyes to reflect the cat's. The cat, named Apollo, was a golden thing. He stared down his master, a tall man with honey blonde hair, intense green eyes, who sometimes changed the way he looked. Apollo let out a spiteful meow and the man turned his gaze onto the cat, laughing.

"Shut it," he said, closing the owl cage and walking over to scratch the top of Apollo's head. The cat seethed, scrunching away from the touch, but falling into it—after all, he couldn't resist some scratching behind the ears. Soon, he was purring.

The man, Teddy Lupin, sighed dramatically. He looked around the flat. Everything was sort of thrown hodgepodge into places that made no sense. He frowned to himself, crossing his arms. Two days in the first flat he could find in a wizard area and he was already making a mess of things—not that they had ever been neat.

It wasn't going to get any cleaner in the near future though. He had some obligations—familial stuff that he, of course, had to attend. After all, no one had seen him in nearly a year, and even then it was only for a fleeting moment, a brief, shocking appearance at King's Cross Station, avoiding relatives, just darting away again. He had almost gotten away with it too, if the kids hadn't been there.

He yawned, stretching his arms above his head. Apollo looked at him scornfully, wishing for more scratches, but Teddy ignored him, heading into his bedroom to start throwing things into a bag. Only a couple of people knew he was coming. He couldn't ever spare them from his theatrics. He liked to surprise them all, if he could, make a show out of it. But he had to at least tell Harry to leave room for one more in the Potter tent, though he made his godfather promise not to tell Albus, James or Lily that he was coming.

He hadn't seen anyone since he got back. Not even Harry. He had sent him an owl at the Ministry, where he, Teddy, would be going to work come Monday. It was sort of weird. He hadn't seen any of them in so long. The letter back from Harry had been surprised. But the plan had always been for Teddy to start work in June. But Harry, it seemed, hadn't expected Teddy to keep his word. He had begged for Teddy to come over for dinner the first day he was back, but Teddy declined. He was back in England for the first time in nearly a year and he wanted to relax a little.

And by relax, he meant find an apartment as fast as possible and figure out his life plan.

He yawned loudly to himself again. He was probably not going to make it through a Weasley family gathering. Outside, London whirled around him. He was glad to be back. He liked it here—he knew the world here and there was nothing lurking behind any corners for him.

Except for her. He flinched at the thought. His first exchange with anyone since that day at King's Cross was that letter he sent to Harry. He hadn't talked to her, not even once. But even the best owls probably wouldn't have been able to find him on the trek he had taken. So now he had to deal with her, and deal with Bill. He was screwed.

In all technicality, they hadn't been together. They hadn't been together before King's Cross or after, save for a few stints here and there. But they had been best friends… and he knew he was going to hear it, at least a bickering match with her… and maybe a bit of a scornful look from Bill… He would have to see.

He figured he would get a scornful look or some bickering from a few other people. That's what he got for disappearing for a year.

She was his biggest fear though. He didn't know what she would say—if she said anything at all. Maybe she would just ignore him. He deserved it. He had all but ignored her in the past months. Save for the fact that she ran rampant through his mind every hour of every day.

At least he would have Al and James on his side—most of the other kids worshipped him too. He was their idol. It was a nice place to be. The kids would support him against the deluge of adults and all of their questions. He had given them all warning he was going, but they hadn't thought he would almost disappear completely from the map…

Teddy sighed. He would have figured it out. They would all forgive him. Maybe she would too, if he was lucky, her dad as well. After all, he was part of the family and family always forgave each other, for stupid things. For disappearing and not contacting any of them.

Oh he could just hear it now: the scoldings about how he could have been dead as far as they knew, in a ditch somewhere or in serious trouble or something.

But that was family for you.


	2. Just Teddy, Just Vic

**A_/N: please bear with me as my beta and I get things off the ground. I hope you like what you see so far, more to come soon!_**

**Chapter 2: Just Teddy, Just Vic**

Vic had once tried to count all of her Weasley relatives in her head. But every time she tried, back when she was younger, they always seemed to pop out another kid from somewhere. Lily and Hugo were the last ones. Once they had been born, her aunts and uncles had stopped procreating and the world was populated with approximately three million more Weasleys, though the red hair had been cut back at least a little bit.

They were all spread out across the lawn of the Burrow when Vic arrived by apparition. Her parents arrived with a loud pop next to her, towing her siblings by side-along Apparation. The Burrow was such a different world from Shell Cottage, here the grass was green and fresh, not scrubby beach grass. It reminded Vic of Hogwarts grass, and that was a comforting thought.

"Vic, Vic," Lily's voice squealed through the air as her youngest cousin catapulted toward her across the grass. Lily wrapped her arms tightly around Vic.

"How are you doing?" Vic asked her little cousin, patting her dark red head.

"Good," Lily said. "But, Vic… Vic, Teddy is here." Lily waggled her eyebrows suggestively, dragging them all back to last September first, at King's Cross Station, the last time she had seen her oldest, best friend.

"What?" Vic said, freezing at the words.

"He just showed up," Lily said. "We're all so excited."

"He's back?" Vic said, extricating herself from her cousin's arms.

"Yes, yes," Lily said excitedly, dancing up and down. "Are you excited, Vic?"

"Um… I'm fine," Vic said. "I'm neither excited nor unexcited."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, scanning across the lawn. She looked for him now, desperate to find his head amidst the crowd of Weasleys… but he always looked different… or he had a habit of looking different.

She groaned and Lily looked up at her, chewing her eleven-year-old cheek.

"See you a little later, Lils," she said, starting across the grass, her bag over her shoulder. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her shorts and looked around as she passed various relatives. Her grandmother temporarily halted her, giving her a tight hug and a kiss, asking her how she was…. Vic nodded and replied to all the comments, smiling like she always did. But now she was distracted. Lily shouldn't have said anything… not that that would have been better… it was just… she had to find him. She had to have confirmation that he still existed. In the past months, there was such a great chance that he had been a figment of imagination for eighteen years…

And then suddenly, there he was.

He didn't look any different than he had looked at King's Cross. He stood next to James, laughing loudly about something. His head was thrown back, golden honey blonde hair reflecting sunlight. He was just as tall, just as muscular, with the same intense green eyes that had bored into hers all those months ago…

Victoire could do nothing but stop and stare for a few moments. Her greatest friend, real. Not a projection of her memory… but there, in front of her.

"Oh Merlin," she said under her breath, dropping her bag on the grass. She took a deep breath, looking at him, waiting for him to notice her, to remember that she existed. The laughter stop and his head rocked back into its normal position. His eyes rested, pointed directly at her and he froze too, standing there.

But then he smiled. His face cracked into a grin, and he raised his hand, waving brightly. That was it. A wave. A bloody wave. Vic felt something inside her creak, something she hadn't touched in months… Habit compelled her to raise her hand too, a reaction to a typical greeting.

"Vic," she heard from behind her. It was Aunt Ginny's voice, her favorite aunt, the best aunt she had, perhaps Vic's greatest confidant. Mid-wave, her hand barely raised, Vic turned around, a genuine smile gracing her fair features as soon as he was out of her line of vision.

"Hi," Vic said, grinning at her aunt. She took a few steps forward to give Ginny a tight hug in greeting.

"Hi," Ginny said. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Vic said. "I'm really good."

"Okay," Ginny said. "Because your dad was saying…"

"I'm sure my dad has been saying a lot of stuff," Vic said, pushing off her aunt's words. "But it's not true, whatever he's been saying."

"Vic…" Ginny said. She seemed to be searching for a good path to go down—one that wouldn't start an argument. Not right now. "I think Teddy is excited to see you."

"That's good for him," Vic said.

"Are you excited to see him?" she wondered.

"I don't know what I am," Vic replied. "He's just… he's Teddy. You know?"

"Yes, of course I know. He's just Teddy and you're just Victoire. I think that's the problem. Because you've been that way your whole lives. Just Teddy is a big part of just Victoire and vice versa, Vic," Ginny said, patting her on the shoulder. "You two have never been much of a separate entity, no matter your age difference. Do you remember how much you cried when he went to Hogwarts and you had two years ahead of you before you got to?"

"Of course I remember," Vic said. "Worst—loneliest—two years of my life, I promise you."

"You two are on the same brain wave," Ginny elaborated. "We all know it. And you both know it. And being apart from each other… it's been hard on both of you, I can tell. But what are you going to do about it?"

"He just waved at me like it was nothing," Vic grumbled. "I think I know what he's going to do about it."

"Oh you know him. He's a prat. He doesn't know what to do with himself—especially around you," Ginny said. "Be patient."

"I'm not patient," Vic said. "I take after my mother in that way."

"Yes, you do," Ginny said, sighing dramatically.

-CD-

Teddy found that his brain had spontaneously turned to mush. He stared at her, flustered. A million different words ran through his head and he tried to formulate them into a sentence, but everything gobbed up in the back of his throat. Somehow, he managed to plaster a smile across his face.

She didn't look happy to see him. She looked stunned. Her face in awe. And if he was right, he certainly detected a flash of anger in her green-blue eyes. She had her hands in her pockets, standing directly in the ray of sunlight that filtered past the trees in the garden. Her hair flipped about lazily in the wind, possibly longer than it had been when he last saw her. Despite the stoic expression, she was absolutely stunning.

Fumbling around mentally, Teddy started to lift his hand in a wave. He tossed his hand casually through the air, his arm moving of its own accord, disembodied from his torso. He cringed internally. That was not how he had wanted to greet her after so much time apart. He had wanted something more dramatic, more… flashy. Something that made her know that he had missed her, despite everything that had or hadn't happened in their time apart. But that way, that disembodied wave, was acting on behalf of the small part of Teddy that thought there ought to be nothing wrong. And it was such a small part, he wasn't sure how it had gained any power, let alone the strength to move his arm. But there it was.

She frowned deeply, but then smiled. Her smile was fake, probably a lot like his, but not practiced, and not edited, as his was. He could edit his smiles in a heartbeat. She could not. Her hand flicked at her side, almost raising, but then Ginny grabbed her attention and Vic was dragged away.

He watched her walk away from him, toward the woman who had been like a mother to him. He frowned now, a genuine frown. The word "hey" finally manifested in his mouth. He could taste it, but it was too late.

"You look like someone Confunded you," James declared.

"Sorry," Teddy mumbled, shaking his head.

"She's just Victoire," Albus said. "Same as when you saw her off in September."

"She's not the same," Teddy said. "Neither of us are."

"You're so dramatic," James said, rolling his eyes. "I think we should play some Quidditch. But we can't let her play. I don't think it's fair if she plays anymore."

"Why?" Teddy said, looking up at Vic. The most important question hovered in midair.

"Didn't you hear?" James demanded. "Merlin, Teddy, get with it, will you? She signed with Puddlemere."

"She did what?" Teddy gasped, looking at Vic's back as she talked to Ginny.

"She's going straight onto the real deal team," Albus said. "A first string Keeper without even suffering through a reserve team for a year or so. Puddlemere and Montrose were fighting over her, but she would have had to play reserve for Montrose… and she called the Magpies stuck up anyway."

"That's amazing…" Teddy said.

"Like I said, you ought to get with it," James said. "A lot has happened since you disappeared…"

"Like what? Other than that?"

"Well… let's see… Al got into Gryffindor and so did Rose. Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup because Vic was our captain and Albus was Seeker. And I was Chasing, of course… Uncle Percy got a promotion in the Ministry. He does something fancier than he used to, and I'm sure you'll get to hear how important it is at some point over dinner…"

"Uncle Bill got promoted at Gringotts too," Albus contributed.

"Ah… Bill…" Teddy said. Vic's father was caught up talking with Percy's wife, Audrey. He didn't appear to have spotted Teddy yet, which counted as a win in Teddy's book.

"Yeah, he's not your number one fan right now," James said. "What else happened, Al?"

"Um… Roxanne got into trouble as usual… Molly didn't get into trouble, as usual, and Lucy will probably get a Prefect's badge with her Hogwarts letter this summer... Dominique got a boyfriend and then didn't have a boyfriend and Louis demanded that Aunt Fleur let him transfer to Beauxbatons because the girl he fancied didn't fancy him back. But she was a Slytherin, so it was a waste of time anyway…" Albus went through the list of relatives in his head.

"And Vic got all dark and depressive," James said. "We're not quite sure what went on with her. She likes her sleep now, and she can be kind of moody. Everyone had to keep telling us not to bother her over Christmas… She was just upset about something… She wasn't a bundle of joy to be around, I guess."

"Oh…" Teddy said. "Really?"

"Yeah," Albus said. "Uncle Bill says it's your fault."

"It's not my fault!" Teddy said quickly, holding up his hands. He looked over at Vic, at the back of her head, and frowned. "It can't be my fault. She wouldn't do that because of me…"

"Well… she did it, for whatever reason," James said. "She got all doom and gloom. It was kind of hard to be around her, actually. Except on the Quidditch pitch. She was amazing out there. But I'm sure that doesn't surprise you…"

"It doesn't," Teddy said, torn between walking over to Vic and just standing where she was. He frowned. He stalked across the lawn, away from his little brothers—or at least the equivalent thereof—and tapped Vic on the shoulder. She turned to look at him.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked.

"I don't have very much to say to you," she replied.

"Vic…" he said. "I just want to talk to you."

"Go ahead and talk. I'm listening," she said, crossing her arms. Ginny sidled away awkwardly, trying to avoid being front and center during a moment like this. The entire Weasley family glued its eyes on the two of them, Teddy and Vic, stuck in the middle of the lawn, the first time they'd spoken since September…. Everyone was watching.

"Vic, I've missed you," he said. "I have. And I'm sorry I never wrote…"

With the entire family watching her, Vic laughed loudly. Teddy raised an eyebrow, fairly certain laughing wasn't a good thing for this sort of situation. She smiled then, coyly, but it wasn't a usual smile. It had a tinge of something Teddy recognized: hatred.

"Fuck you, Teddy."


	3. Just Thought I'd Say I'm Alive

**Chapter 3: Just Thought I'd Say I'm Alive**

Lily and Nana Molly clapped their hands over their mouths. Roxanne and Bill offered Vic a round of applause. She, however, stood her ground, staring at her oldest friend. The fake smile on her face had dropped into an expression that was nothing more or less than ice. Teddy cringed under her look.

"Vic—" he began again, but she shook her head at him, cutting across him with a frozen glare.

"Shut up," she said. "I'm not exactly fond of excuses… "

"Vic, I'm your best friend," he said.

"No, you're not," she said. "You're not."

He looked wounded at those words, but she didn't care. Her hands were clenched at her sides now. She was angry, fuming. It took all of her power not to hex him—or just hit him. Hitting him seemed like a good option.

"Yes, I am," he said. "Come on…"

"Best friends don't disappear as soon as they finish their auror training. They don't show up to see you off to Hogwarts, kiss you, and then never speak to you for nearly ten months! Best friends don't do stupid things that they _know _will hurt you."

He reached out and pulled her into a hug. She almost relented, at that moment, against his chest. It was just so familiar. Despite his ability to change his appearance at will, he was simply the same old Teddy. It was comforting. He still existed. He was still there, no matter how long it had seemed otherwise.

But she couldn't relent. She squirmed away from him, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Leave me alone," she grumbled. "I thought… when you got back, I'd want to be around you all the time. But now I don't even want you near me."

"I'm sorry I did that to you," he said, reaching out again.

She glared at his outstretched hand. "If you cared at all, you wouldn't have done it."

"That's not true," he said.

"Leave me alone," she said again, glaring at him.

"Please…" he said. "Just talk to me. I want to know how your year went. I hear you're playing for Puddlemere."

"You would know that already if you wrote me once in a blue moon. You knew where to send an owl," she snapped. "Stop bothering me Teddy. I'm done with this."

"Please," he said. "Stop it, Vic. You can't pretend like…"

"Like nothing ever happened?" she questioned. "I wasn't. That was you. Like it or not, Teddy. You kissed me at King's Cross. Not the other way around. You didn't write me for ten months. Not the other way around. And you can't deny it."

He sighed, reaching out. He touched her face, but she whipped her head away from his fingers.

"Please, Teddy," she said. "I really don't have anything else to say to you."

"I've missed you," he said.

"I've missed you too," she said.

"Please just talk to me," he said, trying to close the distance between them.

"Look, if my daughter says leave her alone, leave her alone," Bill snapped, stepping in between them. He held a warning hand up. Vic watched Teddy's reaction over her father's shoulder, frowning but not protesting.

"I just want to talk to her," Teddy said morosely. He met Vic's eyes and she just shook her head. Teddy visibly sighed. "Fine."

He turned away then.

"I just need to mentally prepare myself," Vic said, causing him to stop and turn around. "I had no idea you were going to be here. Let me process everything. Let me examine everything. You know how I am."

He nodded, but didn't say anything, walking away.

"So he's back," her father said.

"Yeah, he is," Vic said.

"I'd like to give him a piece of my mind," Bill contributed, crossing his arms sternly. The scars on his face from Fenrir Greyback's attack accented the scowl.

"There's no need for you to do anything of the sort," Vic said. "He didn't do anything wrong."

"Vic, he heads off in April of last year, saying he doesn't quite know where he's going. Then he doesn't write anyone, even you, his best friend… And then he shows up on September first at King's Cross, snogs you, and then disappears again without a word until now. He did a lot wrong. And not just to you, but to everyone. You just took it extremely hard."

"I didn't," Vic said. "I was just stressed this year, with scouts and everything…"

"And him. He's the everything," her father said, shaking his head. "I worry about you. So does your mother. We had every right to. _That's _what I want to tell Teddy about. I want to tell him about everything that changed in you this year."

"No," Vic said. "Please don't. He doesn't need to know—he doesn't care about that, Dad."

"If he's any sort of friend, he should," he said, looking down at her. He frowned some more. "I used to like him."

"You should still like him," Vic said. "He's still Teddy. Just Teddy. The same old Teddy."

Bill shook his head. "No, he isn't. And even you don't believe that."  
"Yes I do," Vic said. "At heart, he'll always be Teddy Lupin. My best friend. My go-to guy."

-CD-

There were very few people in this world that Teddy had ever been afraid of. His grandmother, of course, for legitimate reasons usually resulting from his misbehavior. Then Nana Molly, the woman he considered his other grandmother, because he could get into trouble on her watch too. Then there was Harry, but again, that usually was a result of Teddy misbehaving in some way, causing some sort of a stir. Only one person remained: Bill Weasley.

Teddy had been passed around as a child, from his grandmother's house, to the Potter's house, to the Burrow, to Bill's house when he needed minding. He and Fleur, once they had Vic, were good role model adults, ready to look after a toddler on top of their infant daughter. As a two year old, truth be told, Teddy found holding a sleeping Vic to be pretty relaxing. But of course, especially as Vic got older, the two of them caused a lot of trouble—a lot of the time because Teddy could convince her to do things. He was a horrible role model. He was used to getting the stern parent routine from Bill, the firm hand. But Bill was great. He also always was there to be a great Dad to Vic and an awesome uncle-figure to Teddy.

"I need to talk to you," Bill informed him after Vic had gone off to help James with his flying technique.

Teddy cringed. The tone in Bill's voice wasn't particularly friendly. It wasn't a tone he was used to and it had him worried.

"Okay," he said, clearing his throat. "What about?"

"I think you know what it's about," Bill said. "Victoire."

Teddy nodded, sipping his pumpkin juice with dedicated interest. He said again, "Okay."

"Look…" Bill said. "I don't know what you were doing when you left. That's your own business. But I know what you didn't do. You didn't say a word to her. You've been a central part of her life since… Merlin knows how long. Even when you two weren't at school at the same times, you still were friends. Even when she was the younger, annoying sort. You were still good to her. Now she's grown up. You two are back in the right stage where the two years between you don't matter anymore. But there was nothing…"

"I couldn't write her," Teddy said. "I wouldn't have known what to say to her."

"_Hello Vic, just thought I'd say I'm alive, _would have done just fine," Bill said.

"And her owls to me would never have found me. I was never in the same place, always moving around," Teddy said. "It wasn't easy, Bill."

"To her—and to me, Teddy—it sort of sounds like you didn't want to talk to her," Bill said. "And whether that's true or not, it hurt her. Not only because you're her greatest friend, but because of King's Cross."

"You mean when I kissed her," Teddy said, sighing.

"Of course that's what I mean," Bill said. "That, if anything, put some ideas in her head."

"And it was supposed to," Teddy said. "I had feelings for her."

"Had?" Bill echoed.

"Have," Teddy admitted. It wasn't hard to admit. He just had to look at Vic to know it.

"Well… I don't really want you to mess with her, Teddy," Bill said. "I don't want you to try anything with her. I don't. You screwed her up. She wouldn't come out of her room during the holidays. She slept the whole time, or stayed in her room… and then Dominique and Roxanne were saying she spent all of her time at school frowning, studying, or playing Quidditch. She told us outright that she almost lost the deal with Puddlemere because her personality seemed so bleak they didn't want her to be a raincloud over the team…"

"She doesn't seem like that to me," Teddy said, attempting to shake the image of a depressed Vic out of his head. He never wanted to hurt her. He never wanted her to feel like that, to feel so down and depressed. That was a dark image for him. Something he didn't want to think about. Especially if it was his fault… she would never want him back. And she had every right to hate him, if he did that to her…

"She is," Bill said. "Or she was… I don't know. I don't trust you, Teddy. I don't trust you not to hurt her, and as someone who cares about you, I am only trying to be honest with you. She's my daughter. I know her. And I know what would happen if you two started something up and then you disappeared again…"

"I wouldn't do that," Teddy said. "I'm back for good."

"All the same…" Bill said. "She was seeming a bit better. She had her contract and everything… and you… now you're back. And I'm worried."  
"I don't want you to be," Teddy said.

"But I am," Bill said. "She's my daughter, Teddy. And I think you hurt her."

"I didn't mean to," Teddy said. "I didn't want to. I just want to talk to her…"

"She'll talk to you when she's ready," Bill said. "I know she's eighteen, she should act like it… but she's trying to think it through. You know her. You know that's what she's doing."

"Of course it is," Teddy said, shaking his head. He frowned. "I wish she didn't have to."

"Of course…" Bill said, shaking his head too. He frowned. "Teddy, I like you. I always have. But I just want you to be careful. Don't make me not like you even more than I do right now."

"You don't like me?" Teddy said.

"No," Bill said. "If you weren't family, I would consider hexing your. Or punching you."

"Is she that bad?" Teddy wondered.

"She's not the same," Bill said, shaking his head.

Teddy frowned, crossing his arms. "I didn't want this to happen."

"You could have prevented it," Bill said.

"No I couldn't have," Teddy said. "I have to talk to her…"

"You need to relax," Bill informed him.

Teddy walked away then. He couldn't deal with listening to Bill talk about it anymore. It would drive him nuts. He needed a real ear to listen to—one that would actually give him advice instead of tell him all the things he had done wrong. He wanted to talk to Vic. She always had the best things to say. Sometimes she gave better advice than adults, even though she was younger…

He missed that. He missed her. He missed the way she would come over and they would hang out together, and eventually she would fall asleep, leaning against him. He missed the smell of her hair. He just wanted her and now he had killed any hope of that. And it was his own damn fault


	4. She is a Woman, After All

**Chapter 4: She is a Woman, After All**

"How are things going?" Harry asked, passing a small glass of firewhiskey to Teddy, whom he found sitting out on the back step of The Burrow.

"Eh…" Teddy said.

"Eh?" Harry echoed. "Merlin, Teddy, it's not even dinner yet."

"It's different being back," Teddy said. "It's like... stepping back into an older life. I'm still the same me, and everyone's still the same, but it's a completely different world."

"You weren't gone that long," Harry said, sitting down next to him.

"Long enough, I guess," Teddy said, shaking his head. "I dunno. And then there's everything with Vic. Bill was saying…"

"That she's been a little down?" Harry said. "Yeah, she has…"

"Is it my fault?" Teddy wondered.

Harry shrugged. "I think that's up to you and her to decide."

"She doesn't want to talk to me," Teddy said.

"Well, I might be able to understand why…" Harry said. "I don't know… I think she missed you."

"I missed her too," Teddy said. "I missed all of you. I missed her more than anyone though… She's… she's everything to me."

"I know that," Harry said. "I'm not sure she knows that, Teddy."

Teddy laughed a little. "Of course she doesn't. I never told her. And now she won't listen to me. I dunno. I guess the age gap always sort of stood between us. What could I do when I was sixteen and she was fourteen? Nothing. But now… now she's eighteen, I'm twenty… it's different. She's not in Hogwarts anymore…"

"I think she knows that," Harry said. "But… she doesn't know where you stand on all of it."

"Ah," Teddy said, knocking back the firewhiskey. "Well… too bad."

"You're being a little dramatic about this, don't you think?" Harry wondered.

"Weren't you ever dramatic about Ginny?" Teddy asked, looking up at the sky. It was a brilliant powder blue, dotted with fluffy cotton clouds. It was a good day, a nice day. Teddy couldn't deny that. He just hoped some of the conflict in his life didn't bring gray skies down on all of them. He sometimes had mood problems, but they were never this random.

"Ha. I probably had my moments," Harry said. "I got very overprotective of her in sixth year. She was with Dean Thomas… you know him. He works at the Ministry. I didn't care for that much…."

Teddy laughed. "So you know what it's like. To be in a limbo sort of state with her… that's sort of where Vic and I are stuck right now…"

"Let her get used to you being back here," Harry said. "We all have to get used to it. We were all finally getting accustomed to speculating about where you were when we had family gatherings. Speaking of which… where were you this Christmas? We were all thinking you might surprise us and show up here…"

"Nah," Teddy said. "I was actually in Auckland, New Zealand with a couple of friends I met there…"

"New Zealand," Harry echoed. "Well that certainly wasn't the Burrow."

"First time I hadn't been to the Burrow for Christmas in my whole life," Teddy said. "It really wasn't the same. I missed it."

"We missed you," Harry said. "Molly and Ginny were worried sick about you. So was Andromeda, of course. I kept telling them that you can look after yourself, but you know the three of them."

"Of course," Teddy said. "They had nothing to worry about, though."

"Yeah. But they didn't know that," Harry said, chuckling a little. "Vic was worried sick about you too. She would write letters to Ginny, asking mostly if she knew where you were…"

Across the lawn, Vic walked back from the orchard where she had gone to play Quidditch with a bunch of the cousins. She was laughing, joking with Albus about something. She didn't seem so distraught to Teddy. But she seemed to feel his gaze on her and her eyes immediately zeroed in on him. She frowned then, a dark shadow crossing her face. Even Albus' laughter stopped at the expression.

Teddy frowned. "I made a mistake. I should never have left." He wanted to get up and run to her and tell her that he was sorry a million times over and get down on his knees, begging for her forgiveness. He could only be so lucky for her to show him a little mercy.

"Did you do what you set out to do?" Harry asked.

Teddy nodded now. "And more."

"Then you can't have made a mistake," Harry said. "And I think she will have to understand that."

Teddy looked up at her again. There was a soft breeze rippling through her platinum blonde hair. It seemed longer than it had been when he left. It probably was. She had changed a little—she looked even older, if that was possible. But in a good way. A beautiful way. Not that she had ever been anything less than beautiful.

Teddy had changed too. The green in his eyes had stopped trying to copy Harry's. With the ability to change his appearance at will, Teddy found his eyes taking on more of a shade of Vic's—a solid green, with an almost ethereal tint of blue. His hair had changed a million times in his youth, but he liked it settled on the honey blonde, if he could keep it there—it definitely changed with his mood. But Vic had once told him she liked the honey blonde better than all the others—except for the turquoise. For some reason she really loved the turquoise. And as Teddy couldn't very well walk around with turquoise hair without looking absolutely daft, he settled on the honey blonde, the second best.

"I didn't make a mistake," Teddy said. "I set out to do something, I accomplished it. It was something I had to do. She can't fault me for that. If she does, then she doesn't understand…"

"I think you need to talk to her," Harry said. "When she's ready to let you back in a little. It'll be good for both of you to hear both sides of the story, I think. Keep track of each other, catch up."

"I just want to talk to her now," Teddy said. "I want things to be alright with her. The way they were before."

"Er… Teddy, don't get me wrong…" Harry said. "But just from casual observation, I'm fairly certain you don't just want things the way they were before. I think you want a little more than that."

"Fine then," Teddy said. "I want what we had at King's Cross only multiplied. And I know she wants it too. But I've managed to make her afraid of me—afraid of my actions, I mean. I can just tell… She thinks I'll disappear again."

"Will you?" Harry said.

"No," Teddy said. "I don't plan on it."

"Tell her that," Harry said.

"She'll never believe me."

"Well she is a woman after all," Harry said. "They sometimes take a lot of convincing."

-CD-

Once upon a time, Vic had the perfect temper. She was a good child, well-behaved with few tantrums to speak of. And those were the years when a tantrum was expected and almost accepted, at least every once in a while. She had been a very quiet, calm individual. It was a good thing. She could handle it.

Then, all of a sudden, it changed. She started to fall in love with her best friend. And, as in most stories, that led to a bit of a downhill cline. Sliding down the slope was her ability to maintain composure in times of stress. Suddenly, she wanted to rip his throat out and stamp on it. Or kiss him. One of the two. She wanted to scream at him. She was sick of bottling things up inside.

She shut herself in Aunt Ginny's old bedroom, wand in her hand. She had taken to, if she had to be quiet, shredding pillows with her wand and then piecing them back together before shredding them again. If she could be louder, she would start smashing glass or picture frames. If she was free, she would scream at the portraits on the walls. Sometimes, she crafted powerful Silencing Charms for that purpose.

That particular day, however, Vic found herself flopped on her aunt's old bed, wailing into the pillowcase like a two-year-old with a whiny streak. She had put a bit of a shell around the room to keep anyone from overhearing her while she drained her face and squelched out tears and sobs and moans to rival Moaning Myrtle. Moaning Victoire, like Moaning Myrtle, sans bathroom.

She couldn't even rationalize why she was crying. She hadn't done it the whole afternoon, but all of a sudden, coming back from the Quidditch game, seeing him sitting there with Harry, talking like nothing had changed—when everything had!—it drove her to the edge. Maybe nothing had changed to him, but everything had changed to her.

She had to admit, she'd taken on a bit of a dramatic streak. But that sort of thing tended to happen to her. She found something to be passionate about and it took her over. This time, it was the undeniable feeling she had accidentally developed for Teddy Lupin. Everyone in the family, over all those years, had always teased that they would end up together, they were perfect for each other… After years of griping at them to cut it out, Vic suddenly realized that she was starting to feel like… maybe they were right.

Dinner was soon. She wiped at her eyes furiously, angry with herself for letting her emotions get the best of her. Something in her implored her mind to let him talk to her. They could always talk about things, and no matter the status of their relationship, that sort of thing shouldn't have changed. He would always and forever be her best friend, no matter if it was more than that. It could never be less, after all. You don't let someone into your life for seventeen years and then let them walk out of it. That was unfathomable.

"Breathe," she whispered to herself. She just had to make it through dinner. Then they would all wind down for the night, hang out and talk, like usual. When they turned in for bed, maybe she would find him, in hopes of talking in private. He would sleep in the Potter tent, as usual, and she would be in her family's… but she could find him. He never went to bed at the same hour as the rest of them. It had something to with his strange fascination with the moon and stars.

Victoire peeled herself off of Ginny's old quilt, stomping noisily over to the window. Out on the lawn, tables were being laid end to end to accommodate the massive family. Uncle Percy was trying to boss everyone around, and so was Aunt Hermione. Bill, Ron, and Harry had resolved to do their own method and were being much more successful. Teddy was charming flowers up a few sizes to entertain Lily, sprawled on the grass with her sitting by his head in awe. He was like an older brother to all of the Potter kids, the child Harry and Ginny didn't truly have, but loved nonetheless. Still, Teddy had always been a bit of a free agent.

She smiled at him. He was still the Teddy she had grown up with. No matter what had happened. He was still kind and caring and sweet. He had made some errors, some bad judgment calls. But she had made her own—a billion of them, she was sure, if she sat down and began to count. There was no getting anywhere if they couldn't talk to each other. Away from the eavesdropping ears of the millions of cousins or a hovering Bill and Harry.

She would have to get to it. Soon.


	5. Be My Best Friend

**Chapter 5: Be My Best Friend**

Teddy dragged his sleeping bag out of the Potter's tent, waving his wand to dry the grass. He laid the bag out on the ground and cast a few charms to keep the water and bugs off of him in the night, wriggling into it. He sighed heavily, putting his hands behind his head. The moon was beautiful on a night like this, a glowing, waxing sliver. The stars hung in the sky with it, diamond dots across the ink stain of black.

He yawned, though he wasn't tired. He didn't see himself going to sleep for a while, even though it was past midnight. Midnight was when all of the parents called it, finally wandering into the house, or to a tent outside. Teddy had a sleeping bag on one of the bunks in the Potter tent always reserved for him, but he preferred to be outside.

It was weird. He'd been to places like Australia, South America, Russia… and the moon looked the same from every place. The landscape of stars looked a little different, but someone less interested in stars than he was might not know the difference. If he closed his mind, maybe he was in the Sahel again…

"Teddy." The whisper cut through the night air. Teddy sat up quickly, looking around. Creeping out of Bill and Fleur's tent, Victoire hadn't even changed her clothes from what she was wearing during the day.

"Hey," Teddy breathed as she walked toward him, barefoot in the grass. She carried a blanket with her.

"Hi," she said, throwing the blanket across the grass and settling down on it. She looked at him, her hair glimmering in the moonlight. He wanted to reach out and twist his fingers through it, but he refrained.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured instead, finding it impossible to hold his tongue.

"Teddy, stop," she said.

"No," he said. "Merlin… Are you okay Vic?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she wondered. "Did my dad say something to you?" She cast a spiteful look in the direction of her parents' tent.

"Yeah, he did," Teddy said.

"I don't need your pity," she informed him coolly, crossing her legs under her.

"I know you don't," he said. "But I still feel bad. I shouldn't have… if you…"

"Shut up and stop flattering yourself, would you?" She rolled her eyes at him, picking at some of the grass.

"Vic…" he said. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," she said. "Did we not establish this already? Let's not go in circles, shall we?"

He nodded, reaching to push her hair away from her face. She didn't cringe away from him this time, but her expression informed him she wasn't exactly happy about it. He drew his hand back in, unsure if she was going to hex it off.

"Where were you?" she demanded. "Just tell me."

"Never in the same place twice," he said. "Not for more than a day… usually. Sometimes I would stick around for a while or something… I took off from England last year and headed to Spain. Then I came through France to Germany and hit most of Western Europe, dipping to Greece, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia… then I came back to see you off." They were quiet when that came up. "I went to Russia, China, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, several countries in Africa, then South America, North America—I highly recommend Alaska—then to Hawaii, the rest of Polynesia and New Zealand. That was Christmas. Then I went back to everywhere else I needed to go…"

"What were you doing?" Vic wondered.

"A variety of things," Teddy said. "I can't really tell you."

She frowned. "You can't tell me? You tell me everything."

"Some of it was Ministry work," Teddy said truthfully.

"Some?" she repeated. "What was the rest?"

"I would tell you if I could," he said. "But I can't right now."

She nodded. Silence took hold of her then as she seemed to think. Teddy wanted to say something, but he could tell she didn't want to be interrupted. She rolled her lips in and out for a moment before taking in a small breath and then letting it out in a puff.

"You should have sent me an owl or two. Maybe a Muggle postcard?" she said. "You know… let me know you weren't dead… let me know that you hadn't forgotten me."

"Vic, I couldn't forget you," he said, almost laughing at the absurdity. "I thought about you every day. All day every day."

She shook her head. "I thought about you too… I just didn't understand. I don't think I understand. I missed you so much, and I know it's horribly dramatic—especially for me—but I felt so forgotten. A little abandoned, Teddy. You're my greatest confidant and you were gone. I missed you… and it wasn't so much that I felt you didn't like me… but I had no one to tell my problems and secrets too anymore…" She laughed. "It sounds absurd."

"No it doesn't," he insisted. "Come here, would you?"

"What?" she said.

He held his arms out for her. She looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Seriously? After all this time and you're making _me _come to _you…?"_

He snorted. "Please?"

"Teddy…" she said, sliding comfortably into his arms. He wrapped her up and hugged her close for a moment, breathing in the familiar smell of her, the perfect feel of her, his hands in her hair.

"What?" he wondered.

"I just… I don't know what we can do…" she said. "I don't know if things can just jump back to being the same… or what 'the same' actually is…"

"Vic… I hurt you, didn't I?" he questioned.

"Well… yeah…" she said. "It kind of blows when you snog someone at King's Cross and it's basically the best thing you have ever done and then they disappear and don't say a word to you until somewhere around nine and a half month later."

Teddy nodded. "I shouldn't have come. At the very least, I shouldn't have kissed you."

Vic raised an eyebrow again. "Do you regret it?"

"I only regret it because I hurt you," he said, shaking his head at her. "It was amazing.. .Vic… I've been trying to figure out how to kiss you since I was sixteen. I just didn't want to be a wanker."

"Since you were sixteen?" she repeated. "Back when I was fourteen?"

"Yeah," he said. "Vic, I think you're so beautiful. I care about you so much and I want to be with you. I understand that, with things being how they are… how we left them, I mean… it might not work…"

"It has to work," she said. "Two people can't be so right for each other and just… not give it a shot… It will work."

"You think we're right for each other?" he asked, pulling her from simply in his arms completely onto his lap.

"Well… I think everyone's sort of known that since the day I was born." Vic shook her head at him. "But I don't really know how to approach this, Teddy… Teddy… Here I am right now, curled up on your lap… but a little bit of me—the part that swore at you earlier—desperately wants to hex your balls off." He flinched and tightened his arms around her. "Teddy… we have a lot of stuff to cover." She frowned at him. "So much…"

"I know," he said. "We need to talk about things…"

"So much…" she said. And her voice caught in her throat. Suddenly she was crying. Alarmed, Teddy fumbled for what to do.

"What's wrong?" he demanded, trying to look at her face. But she had buried it in his shoulder, starting to sob against him.

"I don't… I don't even believe you're here. I don't believe you're not going to go away again…" she said. She seemed like she half wanted to get away from him, half wanted to stay there. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered.

A rustling noise called his attention. Teddy looked over her shoulders, out at the night. Bill had stuck his head out of their tent and was looking for the source of the noise Vic was making. He locked eyes with Teddy, even in the pitch black night. There was nothing in them that looked happy that Teddy was comforting Vic. Not even a glimmer of relief. Bill glared, ducking back inside the tent.

"Come here," Teddy said. He fished his wand out of his pocket, expanding his sleeping bag a little. He helped her slid down inside of it with him and he wrapped his arms around her while she whimpered against his chest.

"I just… I have missed you so much," she said, wrapping her arms around him too. Her tears drenched his t-shirt.

"I missed you too, Vic," he said. "More than anything."

"Nothing is going to be perfect," she said. "I want it to be perfect but… we need to work on everything. Everything… Teddy… so much is screwed up right now…"

"I know," he said. "I know, I screwed everything up, Vic…"  
"No… it's not just you… it's me too…" she said, pressing herself as close to him as possible. Teddy rubbed her back again, gently stroking her hair and shoulders. Tears still spilled out of her eyes and shaky breaths shook her body. Teddy cringed. He hated seeing her like this, he hated knowing it was, in many ways, his own fault.

"Just go to sleep," he said. "I won't disappear by morning."

"I shouldn't have let this happen," she said. "I shouldn't. Girls should be stronger than this—they don't need guys to complete them. We all should know that by now… but you're not just a guy. You're Teddy… there's a difference."

"Yeah…?" he said. He didn't know what that difference was. He hoped he lived it up to it. "Well I shouldn't have let it happen either. I never wanted to hurt you…"

"Just be my best friend," she begged him, still not moving her face away from his t-shirt, where her head was buried.

"I will be," he promised. He wanted to be more. He wanted to be much more than that. And he knew she wanted the same. After all, they were crammed inside one sleeping bag together.

She fell asleep first, and he was glad of it. He waved his wand a few times to get the bugs to keep off of her as well. She was asleep against him, head against his chest, arms around him—legs practically around him.

He drifted eventually too, sliding into sleep and dreams of kissing her. He hoped, in the moments of semi-consciousness that interrupted his sleep, that they wouldn't go any further than that. He just wanted to sleep next to her. He knew it didn't count as anything. But here they were just the same.

-CD-

Teddy woke feeling more comfortable than he had ever been in his entire life. Vic was still curled against him, hair half in his face, blowing in a summer morning breeze. His arms were around her and their legs were twisted together. He wanted to kiss her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Good morning," a voice said pleasantly. Teddy jumped, causing Vic to stir next to him. He rolled a little bit to look up, into a pair of faces. One was smirking amusedly—Aunt Ginny. The other seemed to be trying very hard not to hex Teddy.

Vic looked up into the face of her father. She snorted. "Go away Dad."


	6. Try It, You'll Like It

**Chapter 6: Try It, You'll Like It**

"Vic…" her father said.

"No, seriously," Victoire replied. "I mean it. I'm still sleeping and I can't do that with you hovering over me like I'm some sort of show. Both of you, go away. I'm sleeping." She tried to glare some more, but it wasn't very successful. She was too sleepy to glare.

There was something different about her—apart from having spent the night squished in a sleeping bag with someone she couldn't interpret her feelings for. The more important fact remained that she didn't really want to go back to bed. Not like she had in the past months… In fact, she was already wide awake, ready to seize the day. It was just extremely rude for her father and aunt to be watching her and Teddy like they were some sort of spectacle.

Teddy started to slide out of the sleeping bag, but Vic clenched his shirt.

"Where do you think you're going?" she demanded harshly. I didn't matter if the sleeping bag was four thousand degrees—which is definitely was. She was a witch. She would cool it down.

"Okay," he said, laughing and just sticking his arms out instead.

"The whole family is watching," Bill informed them.

"Let them watch. We're not doing anything wrong," Vic said. "I think they'll all be happy, won't they?"

"I'm not happy," Bill replied.

"That's one opinion," Vic said.

"I'm your father. It's the opinion that should matter."

"Dad… you have to trust me," she said.

"I trust you," Bill said. "I do. It's Teddy I don't trust."

"Oh come on," Vic said as Teddy didn't even bother to defend himself. "This is Teddy. You've known him forever. I'm a big girl and I'll make my own decisions. Thank you."

"Vic," Teddy whispered.

"I'm going to get very grumpy if someone else decides to tell me to move," she said, rolling her eyes. "Ugh. Fine. Fine. Fine."

She wriggled out of the sleeping back and Teddy laughed, following her.

"Your grandmother is making breakfast," Aunt Ginny contributed, laughing through the wide grin on her face. Ginny walked away and Bill followed after her, a glower marking his features. Vic watched as Teddy blushed and his hair burned a brilliant gold.

"I like the other color," she said, reaching up to brush her fingers through it.

"What? This one?" he said, concentrating casually to bring his hair to a shocking turquoise color. Vic laughed.

"That's the one exactly," she said, throwing her arms around him a tight hug. "I've missed you."

He hugged her. "I've missed you too."

"Wait." Lily appeared next to the two of them, hands on her ten-year-old hips.

"What?" Vic wondered, looking down at her.

"Are you two _together _or something?" Lily asked, looking up at them.

"We'll see," Vic said.

"Oh come on," Lily said dramatically, stomping away.

"We just have stuff to talk about," Teddy said, looking down at Vic as Lily grumbled under her breath and retreated. "Right?"

"Yeah," Vic said, sighing. "When do you start work?"

"Monday," he said, stroking her cheek.

"Well we have some time then. All day today and all day tomorrow," she said, twisting her fingers into his. "Come on. Let's get breakfast."

"Wait," he said.

"Okay," he said.

"But…" he said, stopping her in her tracks.

"But what?"

"I want to try something," he said.

"What?" she wondered.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her carefully. Her body relaxed into his, practically sighing against his lips. When he pulled away, he smiled.

"Just like I remembered—only better," he said, beaming at her.

"Guess so…" she said, finding herself breathless, like after a lot of exercise…

"Victoire," her father's voice sounded behind them. Vic's shoulders stiffened as she turned on the spot to look at her father.

"Leave me alone," she growled.

"No," Bill replied. "I'm sorry… But I am not going to stand idly by while this happens to you, Vic."

"I'm not doing anything," Teddy insisted.

"He's not," Vic said. But it was hard for her not to see it in her head. Her own self sobbing in her bed at random times, trying to sleep instead of miss him, wishing she would hear a word for him, religiously dogging the post… Her father had seen it all. And days while she was sprawled on her bed she listened to him shout about Teddy Lupin downstairs, curse his name, dream about hexing him… Her father had turned against her oldest friend because everyone thought that Teddy had turned against her. There was no going back now. Bill had made up his mind. Teddy Lupin was wrong, he was cruel and Vic was the victim, vulnerable, love-struck.

"I'm not going to let him hurt you again, Vic," Bill said, his voice rising.

"I'm okay," she insisted, but even her words sounded fake. "I'm better now."

"You're better because he's back, but he could do it to you again!" Her father was reaching shouting level now. The entire family was watching, though many of them were trying to hide it.

"I won't!" Teddy cut in.

"Shut up," she hissed at him. "Let me handle this. Dad! You have been _suffocating _me. 'Vic maybe we should find a healer for you to talk to,' 'Vic, your mother and I are worried about you,' 'Vic this' 'Vic that!' I can't deal with it. You act like you can fix me but you don't even ask what's wrong. I'm a grown up. I can handle myself. I know what I want and I don't want you trying to tell me I'm not smart enough to figure it out for myself. I'm not just acting on whim, on this infatuated beat of my heart, Dad! I'm doing something I've wanted for a long time. Yes. I have been hurt. Fine. But you can't just turn against someone who has been so much a part of my life… just because we both made some bad decisions—"  
"You didn't make any bad decisions, Vic. It was all him!"

"Dad, that shows how much you know! You need to trust me. You need to understand I'm not a feeble, helpless, weak… _child. _You can't tell me what to do anymore."

"You still live under my roof. You still have to listen to me," Bill said.

"Then maybe I won't live under your damn roof anymore," Vic spat at him. "I don't want to if I have to deal with this. I won't. Not if you don't trust my intelligence."

"Where do you think you're going to go?" Bill demanded.

"I don't know. Whose house can I stay at?" she asked of her relatives.

Bill looked around at them, a silent threat on his face, telling them all to be quiet.

"You can stay at ours," Ginny said, impervious to her brother's glare.

"Ginny!" Bill shouted.

"Oh just stop it!" Vic's favorite Aunt rolled her eyes at her eldest brother.

"You are being very dramatic, Victoire," Fleur informed her.

"No," Vic said. "Dad is being dramatic, Maman."

"I think everyone needs to calm down," Harry contributed.

"Good idea," Ginny seconded. "Look… Bill… you're not happy with Vic right now… Vic, you're not happy with your father. Maybe you all should cool down. I think Vic and Teddy have some things they want to talk about, and Bill they're not going to accomplish that with you breathing down their necks."

"Stop it, Ginny," Bill said. "You're supporting Teddy. I know he's like your son… but you saw what he did to Victoire. You saw how upset she was. You know her better than anyone else…"

"Bill, please," Ginny said, giving him a look.

"Were you that bad?" Teddy murmured to Victoire.

"Stop listening to them," Vic said. "It's you and I who need to talk, not Dad and the rest of them…"

"I'm not trying to encourage her to move out!" Ginny said, throwing her hands up in the air at Bill. "You're just being a prick. So calm the hell down and we'll all figure this out, okay? This is as much your business as it is mine. Which means very little. It's about Teddy and Victoire."

"Victoire is my daughter," Bill said.

"And like you yourself said… Teddy is like my son," Ginny said. She was nose to nose with her brother now. Both of them had their wands out. Victoire, truthfully, worried for her father. If Ginny hexed him… he would have trouble getting up for a few days.

"Look…" Harry said. "Why don't both of you head back to our house…?"

"Wait," Ginny said, turning away from Bill. "Go ahead Vic, go start getting some of your stuff together…"

Vic apparated on the spot, leaving her entire family there, staring each other down aggressively. She just wanted to get out of there. She just wanted to fix everything and they weren't helping. This was her own fight, not her father's and he was failing to realize that.

-CD-

Ginny gripped Teddy by the arm, pulling him away from the family members who were quarreling about whether to go and stop Vic while she was packing.

"I'm going to kill you," she hissed at him.

"Why?" he demanded.

"What are you _doing?" _she demanded. "Why… why… _why _are you kissing her? Teddy… you messed her up horribly when you left. Mopey and tears and nothing like the Vic she was when you were around. I wanted to find you and curse some sense into you when you did that… Teddy… Don't you know Bill at all? Don't you know that you're treading on thin ice?"

"I'm sorry… I just…" he said.

"Teddy, I'm telling you right now, I don't condone what you did. Leaving like that. Not contacting her or any of us. It wasn't fair of you. But I love you and I love Vic and I want the two of you to work things out. You can't do that with Bill around you. But I'm not taking sides. I'm not for whatever you and Vic are doing right now. I'm sure she has a thousand questions about what you want with her, and I don't think even you know. You need to be careful. You need to not hurt her again. I don't think you should be kissing or anything. I want you both to be happy… but I'm worried. So be careful.

"And on top of that… Like I said, I'm not taking sides. But I think you need to get out of here before Bill hexes you. He could get Charlie and Percy on his side in a heartbeat. But not me, or Harry, or Ron and Hermione or even George probably… Still, you need to be careful."

"I will be…" Teddy said.

"Teddy… I don't think you understand how hurt she was," Ginny said. "Everyone was scared for her."

"Scared?" Teddy echoed.

"We didn't know what she was going to do with herself," Ginny said, shaking her head. "Teddy… you're both family to all of us. Make sure you go about this in the right way. Talk things through before anything goes wild… You need to be rational. I'm not sure if she's capable of being rational right now, so you have to do it."

"I will…" he said.

"Okay," she said. "Go join her then. I think you need to get out of here. I'll try talking with Bill, keep him from tracking you both down before everyone cools off."

"Okay…" Teddy said. "Merlin…this is a little stressful."

"Bill is exaggerating," Ginny said. "He overreacted back there, okay? And I'll bet he knows that, so we'll just let him calm down. He wants Vic to be happy. We'll see how that goes."

"Are you sure?" Teddy said.

"Yeah. He'll be fine," Ginny said. "You just need to make sure you don't give him another reason to be mad. Calm Vic down. Harry and I will be along with the kids in a little while. So much for breakfast."

"Don't rush," Teddy said.

"Alright," Ginny said. "Go ahead and make yourselves something to eat, if we're not back shortly."

"Okay," Teddy said. "Can you grab my bag and stuff for me?"

Ginny glanced over her shoulder. "Probably best if you don't go back near Bill. We'll bring it along. Go on then."

Teddy turned on the spot.


	7. My Best Friend

_**A/N: So... I understand my Vic is a less than admirable individual, not a very independent, or strong young woman. Her redeeming moment is on its way. I promise. **_

**Chapter 7: My Best Friend**

The Potter's house was silent. Vic settled on the couch, her bag on her lap. Every inch of her body was shaking. She didn't know why. She wasn't sure if she was about to cry or if she was about to laugh. It was an odd limbo. That argument had caught her off guard—her decision to leave her parents' house was completely out of the blue in her head. But it made sense. She was sick of being treated like a child, like she had to listen to her parents about everything. She could take care of herself and they didn't believe her.

She gripped her bag, not sure what her emotions were at this point. Sucking a deep breath, she leaned back, closing her eyes. Wow.

The air split with a crack, and she looked up, startled. She had done the most rapid wand packing job of her life—there was no way anyone had caught up to her yet. She hoped Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry were better at keeping her father at bay than that.

But it was Teddy, standing there, still with turquoise hair, looking a little flustered. He ran a hand through his hair, seeming to think about it for a moment. After a couple of seconds worth of silence, it faded back to the honey blonde color he had taken a liking to.

"Hi," Vic breathed.

"Hi," he said.

"Is my Dad mad?" she wondered.

"I think so," he said, sticking his wand into his back pocket. He rubbed his hand over his face.

"Okay," she said.

"Yeah." Teddy nodded. He sat down on the couch next to her.

"So…" she said. "Now that that horrific scene is over with… maybe we should start talking. We have a few months to catch up on, don't you think?"

"It feels like a lifetime," he said, shaking his head. She smiled at him a little. The uncertainty she felt was mirrored in his eyes.

"So… you traveled the world," she said. "Did you meet any pretty girls?"

"No," he said instantly, scoffing. "They were all very average. Not one of them had your beauty—not one of them had an ounce of Veela blood either. You win on all accounts there, Victoire. Not one of them rivaled you."

"Good," she said, crossing her arms pompously. She smiled a little to herself. She couldn't help it. But then, a typical—at least of late—Vic-fabricated rain cloud washed over her brain. She looked up at him, worry taking hold of her.

"What's on your mind?" he wondered.

"Teddy… are you a virgin?" she asked, barely able to look at him out of sheer embarrassment.

He took a deep breath. He seemed to think about his answer for a moment, which startled her. If he had to think about how to phrase it, there was only one way this could go. And it wasn't as if they had ever been together.

"No, I'm not," he said. He had a blushing problem. She knew that. At that moment, bright red flooded his cheeks. He had the ability to push it out of his cheeks fairly well, if he thought about it. She knew that. His metamorphosing came in very handy in times like this. But it seemed to be hard for him to get it to leave…

"Oh…" she said. A thousand more questions burned in the back of her brain, some of which she thought she had the answer to. "When? Who?"

"Seventh year. Bella." He wouldn't even look at her. Bella Olivier was his short-lived girlfriend. Vic had always assumed he really liked that girl. She had dark hair, beautiful blue eyes… She was perfect—and smart too.

"Oh," she said.

"It was stupid, really," he said. "And it was only one time… That whole relationship was spent with me trying to get my mind off you, Vic. You were fifteen. I was seventeen. I was going to leave Hogwarts soon… there was nothing we could do with a gap like that between us… I was trying to convince myself not to have feelings for you, Vic. So I slept with her and I hated it. I felt like I'd cheated on you, even though we weren't even close to being together at that point. I felt like such a pervert for wishing it was you instead. You were a kid. I wasn't… it was wrong. Everything about the way I felt about you was wrong, Vic…"

"It wasn't wrong," she said. "It's just two years. It's really nothing. But I am glad to know you wanted it to be me… I suppose. I know that's weird way to look at it, but if it had to be…"

"I shouldn't have done it," he said. "I haven't since, actually. I broke up with her shortly thereafter, actually."

"Oh…" she said again. It was the easiest word to reply with.

"Vic…" he said. "Do you mind I turn the question back to you now?"

Faced with her own answer, it was Vic's turn to look away in shame. "I'm not a virgin, Teddy… And it's a really similar situation. Seventh year… wishing for you… thinking I was never going to get you. Sean Finnigan was playing Beater… and one day after a Quidditch match, after we'd won… we got a little drunk and a little carried away… And I wanted you. I missed you so much. And I was so nauseous the next day—not from drinking either. I felt like I'd done something terrible… You were all over me, Teddy. In my mind and under my skin. Guilt. I felt way too much guilt."

"Sean Finnigan," he repeated. He looked a little sick to his stomach, but he shook it off. "Well… at least we're on the same level of horribleness. At least we both feel like we've betrayed each other."

"I do," she said. "I really do… It's horrible. I feel like I have waited. My first time was supposed to be with you, Teddy… I just know it. If we get together, I mean."

"I think that seems a little inevitable," he said. He slid closer to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She nestled against his side.

"Yeah. Agreed," she said, putting an arm over him. She loved the way he felt. Solid. Comforting.

-CD-

They hadn't talked about much. Mostly, Vic sat on the counter swinging her long legs in silence while Teddy made them eggs. He didn't mind. It was a comfortable silence—not tense, or awkward. They were just reveling in each other's presence again, for the first time in so long…

Silently, he scraped eggs onto two plates and smiled up at her. She smiled back, reaching out to touch his hair.

"Are you staying here?" she asked him. It was the first time she had spoken in some time now.

He shook his head. "I have a flat."

"You do? Aren't you all grown up?" she said, laughing. She hopped down from the counter and grabbed a fork.

"I wouldn't talk, Vic," he said. "Playing for Puddlemere…"

She grinned a little. He realized she couldn't help herself. "Yes I am. First string Keeper. Not even reserve!" She laughed brightly. "It's surreal."

"I'm so proud of you," he said. "It's exactly what you wanted."

"No," she said. "It's better. I expected to be on reserve for so long… But then Puddlemere and Montrose were fighting over me. Two of the best teams in the League… both wanted me…"

"You know, I take a little credit," he said. "Who taught you how to fly?"

"You…" she grumbled a little reluctantly.

"Yes, I know," he said. "So… I taught a professional Quidditch player how to fly…"

"Yes, yes you did," she said. "And then I got better than you and you got grumpy."

"Yeah well… I wasn't great at Quidditch anyway," he said. "I just happened to be a decent Seeker."

"Yeah, you were pretty good," she said. "Then… before Albus came along, for that awkward, horrible year… Merlin… Elsa Polk was Seeking for us… We still managed to win the Quidditch cup. Mostly because the other team couldn't score on us, but we could score on them."

"Elsa Polk…" he said. "I don't see that going well."

"It didn't," Vic promised him. "We're lucky, I assure you."

"You're going to be amazing," Teddy said. "Puddlemere is lucky to have you."

"Well the Aurors are lucky to have you," Vic said. "Didn't you set some record?"

"I was easy to train. I got my mother's concealment and disguise help and my father's stealth," he said, shrugging. "But yeah. I set a few training records. Time ones, mostly."

She smiled, pushing her cleaned plate of eggs away. The sound of the fireplace filling with flames out in the living room, accented by the crack of somebody Apparating.

"Are you two here?" Ginny's voice filled the house.

"Yeah," Vic called back, waving her wand to clean up her plate and wave it back into the cupboards.

Ginny walked in, followed by Lily as more consecutive whooshes filled the adjoining room, with another crack. Lily brushed flood powder out of her hair.

"How's everything back at the Burrow?" Teddy asked cautiously.

"Well… Harry and I managed to convince Bill that it wasn't a good plan to drag you out of here by your hair tonight. We told him he needed to calm down and you needed to calm down before anything else… And we can all reassess tomorrow. Harry and I have become moderators between all of you…"

"Okay," Vic said. "I didn't mean to explode like that…"  
"I don't think your father did either," Harry said, walking into the room with the boys. "He seemed upset that he had made you that upset. It was kind of conflicting with his anger."

"He just needs to know that it will be okay…" Vic said. "That I can look after myself. That Teddy and I are going to be fine."  
"Well… he's going to take a little convincing," Harry said. "In the meantime, you can stay in our guest room. Or Teddy's room, as we like to call it."

"Or you can stay at my apartment," Teddy suggested. As Vic looked at him, beaming, Teddy couldn't ignore the pointed look that passed between Harry and Ginny; they didn't approve.

"Can I?" she said.

"Yeah…" he said. He wasn't quite sure where she was going to sleep… he had a bed. And a couch. That the cat liked to sleep on… and he had a bed… One look told him that Harry had caught his mind wandering.

"Good," Vic said. "That'll work out then."

"Well…" Ginny said. "I mean, go ahead and make your own decisions. But I don't know how your dad will react if he finds out you stayed at Teddy's…"

"It will be fine," Vic said. "Teddy is my best friend."

Friend. Teddy repeated the word in the head. Somehow everyone in that room—including Lily, James and Albus—knew that word wasn't quite enough to encompass what Teddy and Vic were… Teddy looked at Vic and she reached for his hand, sliding their fingers together.

"Maybe we'll head over there," Teddy said. "We have a lot we need to talk about."  
He tried to communicate with Harry without saying anything. Roughly translated, he meant that he and Vic had a lot to talk about without the eavesdropping of the Potter children, who would very likely tell the rest of the family everything they heard Teddy and Vic say. Harry nodded at him. He understood. He knew his own children.

"Thanks for the use of your house. And for breakfast," Vic said.

"You're both welcome any time. You know that," Ginny said, shrugging.

"Oh come on. Can't you guys stay?" Lily demanded.

"Why don't you come back for dinner?" Harry suggested.

"We can do that," Teddy said, grinning at Lily. "We'll be back then."

-CD-


End file.
